1 



ADDRESS 



DELIVERED BEFORE 



THE JEFFERSON COUNTY 

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



ANNUAL CATTLE SHOW, 



28th SEPTEMBER, 1830. 



BY V. LE RAY DE CHAUMONT. 



,v.V -■' 



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THE PLOUGH IS OF NO PARTY. 



PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OF THF SOCIETT. 



IS30. 



ADDRESS, 



CENTLEMEN OF THE SOCIETY, 

AND FELLOW-CITIZENS. 

We meet on this annual occasion under the most favourable 
circumstances. This has been an unusually healthy and pro- 
ductive year. Our Society, the second in age in the State, is 
now " the only existing monument of its kind of that enlight- 
ened legislature, which so judiciously appropriated a portion 
of the funds of the State, for the noble object of promoting 
agriculture."* 

Far from being dispirited by the withdrawal of its support, we 
have drawn new energies to our aid — we have kept alive the 
sacred fire and will keep it still brighter and brighter, until it 
shall again extend over the State ; we have held out to our 
fellow-citizens an example by which they may see the benefits 
to be derived from it, and in progressing steadily in usefulness 
and prosperity. We have improved our rules and regulations, 
and thereby acquired the support of many who before had ob- 
jections to join us. The spirit of liberality which had presided 
over the subscriptions has increased, but not so much in pro- 
portion with other classes among our farmers, and particularly 
those of the south part of the county. Their distance from 
our place of meeting is not however a good excuse, since we 
have allowed an extra compensation in such cases, and at any 
rate, it would not apply to the most important premium, that 
upon farms. It is the Viewing Committee who suffer by the 
distance, and they have cheerfully travelled to the most norther- 
ly points of the county, where they have seen a zeal that was 
as unexpected as it was pleasing to them, and which the south 
ought to emulate. 

♦ New- York Farmer, Sept. 1829. 



The labours of this viewing committee, composed of some 
of our most intelligent farmers, who go every year through 
those parts of the country where farms are offered for premiums, 
collect and interchange information, and afterwards embody 
part of their observations in a report which is read to the so- 
ciety, appear to me to be among the most important results of 
our institution, and sufficient in themselves to justify and repay 
all we do to sustain it. The individuals who have at different 
times composed those committees, deserve our warmest thanks. 
Their influence, considered as a channel of information, as a 
connecting link between the different parts of this county, 
would be far greater if more towns should invite their attention. 
Their able reports have generally encouraged us by the ac- 
count they gave of the improvement we make every year, and 
I feel pleasure and pride in adding the flattering testimony of 
one of the most enlightened landholders in the state, whose 
property lies principally in St. Lawrence county, and who in 
answering an application for a subscription, says, that " no 
person can travel through the county of Jefferson without re- 
marking the change which has taken place in our agricultural 
condition," and that it is indisputable that our society has given 
an impulse to these improvements. This compliment was not 
a mere show of words, as it was backed by a remittance of 
fifty dollars. 

It can hardly be suspected at this day that intelligent farmers, 
even if they should yet see some points in our society which 
might be improved, have great doubts upon its general utility, 
or believe that such societies cannot do much good, because 
they are sometimes partly conducted by persons who are not 
labouring farmers. No mistake could be greater than this. 
To cultivate well your farms, and raise the greatest possible 
quantity of the productions which have been raised by your 
fathers, are undoubtedly important objects of improvement ; but 
among an intelligent and industrious people they cannot fail of 
being attained, and they will, without an agricultural society, 
make a good country, producing plenty of food and raiment for 
the population, and perchance for a little exportation. But 



will this ensure the prosperity and growth of the country under 
all the vicissitudes which the world is almost daily undergoing? 
Far from it. Look at the cotton, tobacco and rice, the prin- 
cipal articles of exportation of these united States ; the wines 
of France ; and in short, almost all the agricultural products 
which now form the basis of the riches and power of civilized 
nations. Were they known to our ancestors a few hundred 
years ago ? Who introduced them where they seem to be in- 
digenous ? Not only they were not farmers, but they have 
sometimes been opposed most strenuously by the very class 
who were to derive most advantage from the introduction of a 
new plant. Such reproach I know could not be incurred by 
the American farmers. They show themselves ready to adopt 
what appears advantageous, and therefore agricultural societies 
are calculated to be very useful in this country, since their ob- 
ject is not only to improve the mode of cultivating the common 
products of the country, but to introduce new ones. To the 
great staples which I have above mentioned, it is probable that 
in a few years two will be added, or perhaps even by another 
change in some other country, will take the place of one or 
more of those. 

Hemp, one of those articles to which I allude, has been cul- 
tivated with great success in many parts of the United States. 
It is a fact well ascertained by numerous experiments and con- 
firmed by the navy commissioners in their reports, that Ameri- 
can hemp is preferable to Russia. I see in a publication from 
one of our most enlightened agriculturists, (Judge Buel of Al- 
bany,) that " the United States pay annually to the foreign cul- 
tivators and manufacturers of hemp, more than two millions seven 
hundred thousand dollars. There is therefore little danger of 
glutting our markets with this necessary production. Most of the 
states from Tennessee to Maine already grow hemp, and in this 
state it is successfully and profitably cultivated, particularly in 
the counties of Orange, Saratoga, Washington, Tompkins, &c. 
upon most of the soils which yield a profit in the ordinary pro- 
ductions of agriculture." After some farther remarks upon 
soils adapted to hemp, Judge Buel adds, " It will do well on 



any soil that will grow good flax," and he concludes that it will 
be profitable to the American farmer from the following facts : 
the quantity grown among us has greatly increased and proba. 
bly quadrupled within the last four years. Few have abandoned 
its culture who commenced it under favourable circumstances, 
while many are annually turning their attention to it. Foreign 
hemp has increased in price on account of the tariff: one half 
of the ordinary expense in cleaning and preparing it for market 
may now be saved by the newly invented machine for sepa- 
rating the lint from the fibre ; and the process of water rotting 
increases the value of the article, and renders American hemp 
equal in value and quantity to Russian or Piedmont. A select 
committee of the legislature of Ohio, made an elaborate report 
last winter, in which they speak favourably of the climate of 
our part of the United States for its cultivation, and conclude 
their remarks upon the soil adapted to it, by saying, " any land 
however that will bring a good crop of flax, corn or potatoes, 
will bring a good crop of hemp." This report published in 
the Nevv-England Farmer, is a good treatise upon the cultiva- 
tion of hemp, and would alone repay a year's subscription to an 
agricultural paper. I will however endeavour to obtain the in- 
formation it procures in some shape during the winter, so that 
those who have proper grounds for it may if they choose try 
it next spring. On that head I would not be understood, in 
quoting what I have said above of the grounds which produce 
hemp, nor is it either the meaning of those papers to recom- 
mend its being sown on lands, such as would but strictly come 
under that designation, at least in any thing like large crops. 
On the contrary, I think it is important to try it first under the 
most favourable circumstances. I am dispensed from giving 
you estimates of the probable, and accounts of the actual bene- 
fits of this new staple, by referring you to our neighbours of 
Lewis county, who have been before us in this branch. On 
the same principle that I avoid exciting you by highly pro- 
mising statements, I would warn you against drawing conclu- 
sions too hastily from what you see yourselves. Inquire well 
into the nature of the soil and the state in which it received the 



crop. Examine such lands as you have to devote to that plant 
when they have been well prepared. You need not think of 
putting hemp in an indifferent soil, half tilled and already over- 
grown with thistle. Failures in such cases prove nothing. 
The question of the soil being exhausted by it, I should think 
to be in a great measure relative to its natural quality and the 
price of the land. We might afford to let any of ours which 
would bring a net profit, such as I have seen mentioned 
under the most respectable authority, lie dormant for ever 
thereafter ; and even under ordinary circumstances it is pro- 
bable that with a proper rotation of crops, the injury done to 
the soil will be repaired. I do not find this subject treated in 
the writings I have consulted, or if it is, it has escaped my 
notice. One article however I have met with in the Troy 
Sentinel, which contradicts the received opinion on this head, 
and I believe in fact that it will be found to be exaggerated. 
Hemp has now been raised sufficiently long in this country to 
have an opportunity of judging the question, and it is well 
worthy the observant agriculturist. It has been observed that 
our lands hold their quality remarkably well without manure. 
There are not far from this village lands which have been 
cleared more than twenty years ago, and which have given 
and give yet without manure, very good crops of wheat. A 
large establishment for the rotting and dressing of hemp has 
been made at Copenhagen, in Lewis county, and is a credit 
to its proprietors and to the country. One for the same pur- 
pose has been made at Juhelville, opposite this place, but un- 
fortunately was never in operation on account of the failure 
of the person who put it up. There can be no doubt of its 
being placed in activity next year.* 



* A Mr. Wedge of Lewis county, sowed last spring fourteen acres to 
hemp, and had delivered a part of the crop on a contract with the owners 
of the works at Copenhagen, who had agreed with him and others to give 
fifteen dollars a ton. Judging from what he had delivered, his fourteen acres 
will yield fifty tons, or a fraction over three and a half tons per acre. The 
preparation of the ground was the same as for corn. I quote this, not be- 



The second article above alluded to as likely to be added to 
our products, is silk, for which we pay annually above ten mil- 
lions of dollars to foreign countries, but which will probably be 
shortly produced in the United States in sufficient quantities for 
consumption, and even exportation, and will partly be manu- 
factured here. It is now ascertained and acknowledged in 
France, that the quality of the raw silk is superior to that of 
other countries, and no difficulty exists in producing it to any 
extent. The white mulberry tree, on which the worm feeds, 
will succeed well here, so far as we can judge by analogy and 
the short experience we have had.* The leaves may be ga- 
thered by children after school hours, and females from twelve 
to fifteen are amply sufficient to attend to the worms within 
doors. Mr. Rapp, in a letter dated Economy, Pa. 30th June, 
1830, says, " adhering to the instructions given in the American 
Farmer, and books treating on the culture and manufacture of 
silk, we find no difficulty in keeping the worms healthy, unwind- 
ing or reeling the silk, or weaving it." In 1828, the industrious 
society directed by him, made a small beginning ; they have 
now made stripe for female apparel, vesting, and one hundred 
handkerchiefs, of a good quality, and feel sufficiently encouraged 
to have erected a two-story building, 24 by 44, for the worms 
and the various operations of the silk manufacture. It appears, 
however, that the finer textures of silk require a 7nore delicate 
process for reeling, so much so, that it is only in the south of 
France and north of Italy that it is well understood. Congress 
will probably next winter pass a law, which they had no time 
to act upon last session, providing for the teaching of skilful 



cause I have reason to believe that it is a favourable specimen, but merely 
because I happened to have heard of it, and of no other. Some of my 
neighbours had small pieces which gave a far greater produce in proportion. 

* It grows luxuriantly in Massachusetts, where it was introduced forty 
years ago. It is no uncommon thing there for the plants to be cut down 
by the frost during the first winter ; but they shoot up again and grow with 
fresh vigour in the following spring. 



tcelers, and meanwhile the family reel will answer for family 
use, and our ladies may shortly attend our anniversary in silk 
dresses of their own manufacture.* 

It was a most gratifying surprise for me on my return to the 
United States, after a year's absence, to find the great improve- 
ment which had been effected in the morals of the people in the 
use of ardent spirits. If there was one cause capable of check- 
ing and arresting the unexampled prosperity of this country, it 
was the frightful increase of the vice of intemperance. For the 
last thirty or forty years, a great melioration had taken place 
in the customs of the richer classes in that particular. A fash- 
ion, imported from England, was prevalent in our cities at that 
period, of sitting at the dinner-table many hours after the cloth 
was removed, and it was no uncommon thing nor was it esteemed 
derogatory, for men of respectable standing, to drink to an ex- 
cess on these occasions, which would hardly be credited here. 
The more refined custom of soon joining the ladies or even of 
accompanying them to the drawing-room, is now prevalent ; 
and this has been aided in its good effect by the more general 
introduction of the lighter French wines, of which the influence 
upon the sobriety of a people is so universally acknowledged, 
that it has been ui'ged upon congress as a reason for diminishing 
the duties upon them. Th« low price of whiskey, since the 



*See on the subject of silk, "Practical Instructions for the culture of Silk 
and the Mulberry Tree, by F. Pascalis, M. D." and " Essays on American 
Silk, by John D'Homergue and Peter Stephen Du Ponceau." The latter 
work shows satisfactorily that silk ought to be worked at present in this 
country only to that state when it is called raw silk, and then exported, and 
that this would afford more profit than to make sewing silk, as tiiey do in 
Connecticut. But as the preparation even of raw silk requires some know- 
ledge and machines which we do not yet possess, I think it will be found 
advisable to begin as soon as possible to raise the trees and get experience 
in the management of worms : we may roach even immediate benefits tliere- 
from ; for no doubt the inhabitants of Connecticut would not have persevered 
in making sewing silk for seventy years, (even with tiie whole of the cocoons, 
although M. D'Homergue says that this is a great waste, since the refuse 
fiocoons only are used for that purpose) unless there was a profit in it. 

2 



10 

fall in price of grains, is probably the great reason for the ala\*m. 
ing increase of intemperance among the poorer classes. But 
where wine, not stronger than cider, as the common French 
wines, is generally drank, temperance is universally adttiitted 
to be prevalent. Those wines are also healthy ; and it is the 
opinion of enlightened and good men, that the most effectual 
and lasting mode of reducing the use of ardent spirits is the one 
recommended last year by your president, of introducing gene- 
rally the cultivation of the grape. I know that this will be con- 
troverted by men very intelHgent and very good too. But my 
little experience tells me that moderation is the more sure way 
of proceeding in. amendments, and that we must mistrust, in this 
country particularly, an eagerness of zeal which has carried 
too far almost all the objects to which public attention has been 
called. 

In thus recommending the culture of the grape (for family use 
only, either as wine or for the table,) we are encouraged by one 
more year of success. That plant is subject to injury by late 
frosts in the spring, even in its favoured abodes of the south of 
Europe. We cannot complain, therefore, if after the uncom- 
monly warm month of April of this year, the grape was hurt in 
the succeeding month. But those which have escaped this 
partial injury, show that in proper situations and with due care, 
this plant is destined to find a congenial country among us. I 
have great pleasure in quoting the grape-vines of Major Brown, 
one of which, particularly, a mere cutting, planted three years 
ago. It is of a valuable kind, (Early Morillon) and has produced 
Ibis year one hundred and twenty clusters, of good size, which 
came to perfect maturity about a fortnight ago, notwithstanding 
the unfavourable season.* Many parts of this county produce 
a kind of wild grape. It would be perhaps the surest way, as 
it is the easiest and quickest of obtaining good fruit, to graft 
upon those stocks. The grafting of the vine was long consi- 



* As this exceeds any account of the kind I have seen, I deem it proper to 
add that I hold it from a person on whom I place the utmost reliance. 



11 

dered extremely difficult. My brother has tried the experiment 
upon the wild stock of this country, and it has perfectly sue- 
ceeded. The best mode of grafting appears to be that described 
by Dufour, of the Vevay Swiss vineyards, in the "American 
Vine-dresser's Guide," and is thus described by Mr. Horatio 
Gates Spaflord, (author of the New- York Gazetteer) who says, 
that every one in the neighbourhood of Troy practises upon this 
plan, and that he has found it by experience perfectly success- 
ful. " Saw off the root of the stalk into which you would insert 
your graft, under ground ; bore a small hole into the end of the 
root-stalk, and insert the graft, with one or two buds ; then, 
keeping the root covered with mellow earth, and the upper bud 
just even with the surface, and the whole process is accom- 
plished. Some care is necessary in rubbing off the superfluous 
shoots, but the operation is easy, and as sure as the inserting 
of a graft into an apple or plum tree. If the root-stalk is of a 
vigorous growth, and the graft well chosen, having the wood 
of the two last years' growth upon it, and from a bearing vine, 
the graft will always bear fruit the first year, and of the quality 
of the graft." 

The operations of the farmer would be much facilitated if 
he could foresee with some tolerable degree of certainty the 
approaching changes of the weather. Hence have arisen, as 
men are apt to answer their wants by fictitious means, when 
they cannot do it by real ones, some of those prognostics which 
we find disseminated in all countries and in all ages, which are 
still believed in, like the predictions of card tellers, or the ex- 
planations of dream interpreters, though they have disappointed 
a thousand times. There is an instrument, the immediate ob- 
ject of which does not appear at first view to promise the re- 
sults which have been found to be drawn from it. The baro- 
meter measures the relative weight of the atmosphere, by 
means of a column of mercury or quicksilver which rises in 
a glass tube, deprived of air, when the atmospheric air becomes 
heavier; and lower nvhen the air is lighter,. It has been re- 
marked that the first effect is generally followed by good wea- 
ther, and the latter by bad, in a greater or lesser degree, ac- 



12 

cording to the rise or fall of the mercury, and other circum-- 
stances which the habit of consulting the instrument will soon' 
teach to distinguish. Along the sea coast, and on the ocean,- 
this effect of the mercury is more generally indicative of the 
force of the wind, and hence this instrument has now become 
a necessary appendage to a well appointed ship ; but in the 
interior the indications of the barometer, although they also 
are influenced by the winds, are more particularly in reference 
to rain. We have made use of this instrument at Le Raysville 
for some years, and have acquired the habit and the confidence 
of being guided by it whenever the coming state of the weather 
becomes a matter of interest, and we now are like most of 
those who have been in the same practice, at a loss when we 
are deprived of our counsellor. I have no doubt that a good 
farmer who would pay ten or twelve dollars for such an instru- 
ment, would find that he could not well have applied the same 
sum to a better purpose. Were six barometers ordered at 
once, they might be had in New-York for five or six dollars. 

Another means of attaining useful knowledge, I would men- 
tion is the subscribing to some periodical publication princi- 
pally devoted to agriculture. There are two which, from their 
location and the manner in which they are conducted, I would 
highly recommend. One is the New- York Farmer, published 
monthly in the city of New- York, at three dollars ; the other 
the New-England Farmer, a weekly paper of Boston, at two 
dollars fifty cents per annum. The New-England Farmer is 
taken by two of our most enlightened members who have the 
highest opinion of its merits and usefulness. Some numbers of 
those papers will be distributed with a part of the premiums. 
In taking a paper devoted to agriculture, it might be an economi- 
cal and otherwise advantageous way, to unite several in a close 
neighbourhood, and meet weekly on some evening to read the 
paper. Each would make his remai'ks and bring his stock of 
knowledge and experience. The young part of the families 
would be instructed. The habit of observation, of investigation, 
the social feeling which such meetings would foster, wouldy. 
it seems to me, produce very great benefits. 



13 

The New-York Farmer is under the patronage of the horti- 
ticultural society of that city, but both papers devote a large 
space to gardening ; and it would perhaps not be among the 
least beneficial results this would produce, if they should im- 
prove so useful and important a part of a good farm. It is 
well to raise the best provender for our cattle, and adopt new 
species when they are well recommended ; but I think we ought 
to take as good care of ourselves. 

A well cultivated garden on a farm bespeaks more than any 
thing else, order and comfort, and has this peculiar merit that 
it is an outward testimony in praise of the female part of the 
family, whose care is necessary to its success.* 

We derive most of our population from a part of the country 
where more regard is paid to this branch, and where new and 
increasing emulation is excited by their flourishing horticultural 
societies. We are yet too young here for such an institution ; 
but our society may very properly and usefully at present extend 
its care and encouragement over our gardens. It has been a 
subject of remark with the traveller, and of regret in the new 
comer, that so fine a country having made such astonishing pro- 
gress in every thing else, should be comparatively backward as 
to gardens. It has been observed to you on a former occasion by 
one well qualified to speak on that subject, that in no country 
are the vegetables better than in this, nor are our fruit inferior 
to any, so far as we have tried them. You will conduce to 
your health and comfort by attending to this subject. Some 
vegetables of eariy and profitable cultivation, which you will 
find noticed in the papers above mentioned, are generally 
unknown here, and would be valuable acquisitions ; and as to 
fruits, the example of some of our best farmers is not sufficient- 
ly followed, and it would seem as if the generality were satisfied 
with such production as our forests contain, with the addition 



* I take the liberty of requesting, for the benefit of our next cattle show, 
all those who have any fine fruit, and particularly that which is rare, to 
send a sample of it to our society for exhibition on that day. 



14 

sometimes of seedling apples. We are too far advanced to 
remain longer in this unfarmerlike state, and it is time we 
should render ourselves worthy of the country where it is our 
good fortune to be placed. 

The society has heretofore taken the subject of roads into 
consideration, and justly so. Not only do they form an impor- 
tant part of the yearly labour of every farmer, but the subject is 
not so generally understood, if we judge from practice, as it 
ought to be. I cannot of course enter into a detailed examina- 
tion at present ; but I am glad of an opportunity, at this yet 
early part of our settlement, to bring the public attention to the 
mode of laying out roads. Following the straight line is a very 
good rule of our moral code, but it does not apply to the making 
of roads ; as it is not always true in finance that two and two 
make four, so the straight line is not always in fact the shortest 
distance between two points. We see every where in this 
country the roads going up and down the steepest hills, when 
they might have been avoided with the greatest facility. One 
single hill in a road to be travelled will generally determine 
the load we can take, and the time spent in going up a steep 
hill of twenty rods, the expense which may result from acci- 
dents, besides other serious consequences, will often compen- 
sate for going a great distance round. A level road is of the 
utmost importance to the farmers who have to carry their pro- 
duce to market, and when we shall become fully sensible of it, 
we may be put to a great expense and trouble in going through 
improved farms, &c. to level our roads. In parts of the United 
States, where science and experience are combined in establish- 
ing roads, the angle the road is to make with the horizon is 
determined and adhered to. The very backbone of this con- 
tinent has been passed at such an angle as would hardly seem 
to us in this even country, to form an ascent. There is no 
reason why we should remain behind our age on this subject. 

The thistle, for which it is supposed we are indebted to our 
northern neighbours, has often been attacked in this place, 
and to all appearance with so little success, that it requires 
some degree of fortitude to renew the battle. Yet it is one of 



15 

so much moment that we ought not to feel discouraged at every 
successive attempt which may fail. It is an undertaking which 
can succeed only by general co-operation. I am convinced 
from what I have seen and heard, that with united and proper 
efforts, this increasing evil may be completely overcome and 
with much less labour, and in less time than is generally be- 
lieved. Cutting when the stem is hollow and chiefly before a 
rain is effectual. Throwing upon the stumps the salt you want 
to feed to your cattle has been known to succeed, and a due 
cultivation with Indian corn, wheat and clover it is asserted, 
will completely subdue them in all cases. But a farmer must 
not feel secure because he is exempt from them or even his 
neighbourhood. The seeds are wafted by the wind to a great 
distance, and one field only, one single small spot of ground, 
which from some cause may be given up one year to the en- 
croaching stranger may poison a whole settlement. Some 
parts of the ground are now so impregnated with the seed, even 
at a distance from clearings, that if the smallest opening is 
made in the woods it will take possession. There is one way 
in which one single man in every road district, who would be 
determined not to give up till he had conquered, might do much 
to effect the desired object. By the statute on highways, it is 
enacted, that " it shall be the duty of the overseers to cause 
the noxious weeds on each side of the highway within their 
respective districts, to be cut down or destroyed twice in each 
year, once before the first day of July, and again before the 
first day of September, and the requisite labour shall be con- 
sidered highway work." A neglect of such a duty can arise 
generally but from ignorance of the obligation or from careless, 
ness. The first is easily removed by any inhabitant who chooses 
to be free from weeds ; and the second might be cured by be- 
ing reminded that a penalty of ten dollars is attached to a 
neglect of the duty. The example thus set would be followed 
by the farmers along the road, and by perseverance, the happy 
result may be expected, 

The use of plaster in quickening the growth of grasses will 
be very useful, and you will therefore find it important to choose 



16 

the Pennsylvania clover, and the lucerne, which are cut twice, 
or oftener. This season has been favourable to weeds. It 
therefore behoves us to be prepared with all our means to meet 
them the next year. 

I will say a few words upon a topic which has heretofore 
been mentioned in this place, and those only because my par- 
ticular business makes the remark more than disinterested on 
my part: The best of our farmers are united in saying, that 
we cultivate, or rather attempt to cultivate, too much land. I 
believe the principle will not be contested by any who would 
be likely to be affected by it, and I insert it here only with a 
wish to impress it again upon your mind. 

Travelling a few years ago in Pennsylvania, I saw in a grist 
mill a machine to break corn before shelling ; in that state it 
was ground coarse, and fed to hogs and other animals. I heard 
much of the advantage of this plan, but being unfortunately 
prevented from devoting as much of my time and of my thoughts 
to the subject of farming as I wish, I might never have endea- 
voured to introduce this mode in our county, if the too great 
partiality of my associates had not chosen me for the honour of 
addressing you on this occasion. In the limited opportunity I 
have had of inquiring about it since, I find that the same pro- 
cess is followed in several parts, at least, of the country, and 
very well spoken of. It is thought by some, that it saves one 
quarter of the corn in fattening swine. A paper of a recent 
date from Columbia, (Pennsylvania) says, that it has been pret- 
ty accurately ascertained, that thirteen bushels of Indian corn 
ground up, corn and cobs together, afford, at least, as much nu- 
triment in feeding cattle, as nine bushels of corn without the 
cobs. Here is a saving of nearly one third. This food is used 
by the carters in New-York for their horses, A machine to 
break the corn costs about fifty dollars. I have no doubt if 
some of our enterprising millers should establish such a ma- 
chine, he would have the double reward of bringing grist to his 
mill, and doing good to his country. 

The introduction of lucerne into this country has heretofore 
been recommended to you, but the difficulty of procuring the 



17 

seed, and the want of a sample have probably been impediments 
to its extension. I am going to procure some seed for my use, 
and Avill cheerfully get some for those who will leave their 
names to-day with Mr. Hungerford. This grass is strongly 
recommended by some of our most able agriculturists, as Mr, 
Lowell, president of the Essex Agricultural Society in Massa- 
chusetts, and Mr. Buel, of Albany. I have the more confi- 
dence in the opinion of its. advocates, as l find that many of 
them, and the latter in particular, failed in the beginning of its 
cultivation. Its great advantages are : its durability ; it will last 
ten years or more in good ground ; it is earlier than clover ; is 
mowed three or four times in the season ; stands droughts and 
hard winters better ; and its root going six feet and more in the 
ground, draws sustenance from a part of your land which 
otherwise is beyond your reach. Mr. Buel, and others, say, 
that being cut and fed green, it will keep five or six cows per 
acre during the season. Less oats is necessary with it than 
with clover. In short, it is so highly spoken of both in Europe 
and in this country, that no good farmer who has soil adapted 
to it, which is a deep sandy loam, should be without a field of 
it, even if it is but one acre. You will perceive, that once 
well put in, it will cost nothing more for several years, and pro- 
duce yearly a greater profit than any other grass. Those who 
wish to keep their lands in grass as long as possible, can have 
nothing to compare with it. I have good authority for saying 
so, and only wish that the limits of this address would admit of 
my quoting some of them. 

The inhabitants of this county have had lately an occasion 
of displaying their taste for scientific and useful pursuits. Mr. 
Finch, a distinguished mineralogist, was attracted by a subscrip- 
tion to deliver a course of lectures at Watertown, in the inter- 
vals between which he visited several parts of this county, and 
on his last evening, gave a summary account of what he had 
seen, the substance of which will be published. Besides the 
objects of curiosity for the intelligent and inquiring traveller 
which he mentioned, and which are not immediately connected 
with our present purpose, it was gratifying to hear this gentle- 

3 



18 

man who has travelled over a great part of the United States^ 
and whose business makes hiin a close observer of the soils of 
a country, express himself in so favourable terms upon our part 
of the state. A very important conclusion may be drawn from 
his observations upon the part of our county which rests upon 
limestone. It is objected by some of the people residing in that 
part when they are advised to burn some of the stones which they 
find upon their farms, and spread the dust upon their land, that 
as the country lies upon a lime rock, the soil must contain lime» 
Mr. Finch has said to you, that the conclusion is by no means 
certain upon general principles. It is undoubtedly false as it 
regards a pretty large tract of land ; viz. the far greater propor- 
tion of the pine forest. As to the rest, Mr. Finch had not the 
means of making the nice experiments which are necessary to 
determine the exact quantity of lime contained in a soil ; but 
he tried some earth picked up on the side of the street leading 
to the arsenal, and found it to contain very little lime. Some 
clay taken near the Universalist church, and chosen as one of 
the grounds most likely to contain a great deal of lime, show- 
ed the indication of veiy little ; in the opinion of Mr. Finch, not 
over five per cent. The quantity which our soils contain is 
probably so small, that there can be no doubt of its being greatly 
improved by the introduction of lime. I find in Chaptal's 
Chemistry applied to Agriculture, that Mr. Tillet made at Pa- 
ris a great number of experiments upon the best proportions, in 
which sand, clay, and lime could be mixed to produce the most 
fertile soil, these three ingredients forming generally the best 
soils, with the addition sometimes of vegetable matter, which 
is veiy desirable, and also of other substances, which are not 
generally in such proportions as to affect sensibly its bearing 
qualities. He found that the best mixture was twenty-five per 
cent, of sand, thirty-seven and a half of clay, and thirty-seven 
and a half of lime. This agrees in a striking manner with the 
analysis as made by Bergmann of one of the best soils of 
Sweden, containing thirty sand, forty clay, and thirty lime, and 
with that of an excellent alluvial soil on the borders of the Loire 
made by Chaptal, but which he gives in a way which cannot 



19 

be exactly compared with the forcopoing without entering into 
too much detail. A piece of land in Touraine, which had jnst 
produced a fine crop of hemp, gave half sand and one quarter 
of each of the other ingredients. It may therefore be con- 
cluded that the most advantageous proportions in which sand, 
clay, and lime may enter into the composition of earths, are 
from one quarter to one half, although an excellent wheat 
land in Middlesex, England, was found by Davy to contain only 
one tenth of lime. Any farmer may find pretty nearly what 
proportion of lime his land contains by mixing limestone, finely 
powdei'ed, in different proportions with dry sand and clay, 
(weighing each material,) by pouring a few drops of muriatic 
acid, which may be had at the druggists — on this mixture di- 
luted in water, an effervescence will take place more or less 
strong in proportion to the quantity of lime ; and by comparing 
it with that which takes place in pouring the same acid upon his 
soil, he will have a tolerable idea of the quantity of lime which 
it contains, bearing in mind that our limestone has about four 
tenths lime. But where a very great deficiency exists, if it 
could be corrected only by mixing a due proportion of lime, the 
evil would be practically irremediable. To make a soil con- 
taining thirty per cent, lime to the depth of six inches, five thou- 
sand bushels per acre would be required. But it has been 
found, that lime obtained by burning limestones, operates upon 
soils in the double capacity of a stimulant and of a compo- 
nent part of the soil. On this account forty or fifty bushels per 
acre are sufficient to produce a good effect, although several 
hundred bushels, and in one instance one thousand, have been 
used to advantage in Great Britain. Mr. Finch recommends, 
with reason, its use in this county, and quotes as examples the 
great benefits derived from it in Pennsylvania and in Jersey, 
and one instance at Brownville. There is no doubt that in some 
soils the effect is astonishing, Lime may also be added to land 
by using plaster. This is much cheaper, but will not have so 
lasting an effect. Which of the two will be preferable here 
will be determined by experience, and trials should be made on 
both, so as to enable us to choose between them. 



20 

And here I would beg leave to suggest a plan which I think 
would do more good than can be done any other way with any 
thing like the same trouble. Pattern farms have been esta- 
blished in other places, but they are extremely difficult to be 
well managed any where, and would be almost impracticable 
here at present. I would therefore spread the pattern farm all 
over the county. Let every man who tries an improvement 
on his farm, when it shall be on the road, (which he should try 
to do) put up a notice written with chalk on a piece of board, 
stating in a few words the nature of the experiment. In the 
case before us, for instance, let a few narrow strips running 
back from the road be left without liming, on average quality 
and situation. Write on a piece of board or shingle posted up, 
" thirty bushels stone lime per acre ;" the strips left without 
liming will speak for themselves, and you will persuade more 
to follow your example than the recommendations of the great- 
est orators could do. 

The roller, which is considered in France and in England, 
as one of the most important implements of modern husbandry, 
is not yet adopted in this county ; but ought certainly to be after 
the high encomiums which are bestowed upon it by some of the 
best farmers in the eastern states, who have experienced the 
greatest benefits from its use. Repeated experiments made at 
the farm of Le Raysville, prompt me to recommend it with an 
entire confidence. It can all be made by the hand of the far- 
mer, and comes to him so cheap, that the benefit he may reap 
from its use will repay him the very first year. It is not only 
advantageous to grain crops, but very much also for grass. 
One hour's work with the roller after ploughing and harrowing, 
says a farmer after eight years experience, will do more in pul- 
verising the soil, and in producing a finer tilth, than ten times 
the amount of labour with plough or harrow. A smooth round 
log, eighteen inches or two feet in diameter, but the larger the 
better, and five or six feet long, will answer a very good pur- 
pose for a roller. Add, if you please, a box to carry the stones 
out of the field, or to augment the weight at pleasure, and a 
scraper to prevent the earth clogging your machine. 



21 

It is a gralifying task for me to have to felicitate you upon 
the means we have of improving our already good stock of neat 
cattle. We have in this county two bulls of Devonshire and 
Hertfordshire ; and through the enterprise of Mr. Budd of Car- 
thage, we now own a very fine full-blooded bull, of that most 
valuable breed, the Durham short horn. It was bred by the 
celebrated Mr. Powell of Philadelphia. 

The growth of wool is not a favoured one with our farmers, 
but the prospects are brightening, and a better market will re- 
ward our exertions. The subject however to which I would 
direct your most serious attention, is the employment of that 
material in the family manufactures. It is said by some, that 
they can buy imported cloth cheaper than they can make it. 
I believe the report of your viewing committee will bear out 
the contrary opinion ; but even if there was a little difference, is 
there not a great advantage in answering yourself your own 
wants, rather than pay money or the equivalent of it ? Do you 
not feel a pride and a satisfaction in wearing homespun ? But 
above all, will not your good housewives enter into those feel- 
ings, and seize an opportunity of rendering useful the industry 
of their daughters ? The mention of this better as well as fairer 
portion of the human race, reminds me that our assembly is 
graced as usual by their presence, in a number which is a re- 
ward and an encouragement for our labours, and that their 
flattering attention should not be fatigued. Their usual in- 
fluence will also move us to raise our eyes from earth to hea- 
ven, and to ask a continuance of those great privileges and 
blessings with which it has pleased the Almighty to favour us. 



22 



APPENDIX. 



REPORT OF THE VIEWING COMMITTEE. 

Our Society has been organized for about twelve years, and, with 
the exception of one or two years, premiums on farms have been 
awarded by committees who have personally inspected the same. 
It is considered an important part of the duty of this committee to 
report generally the state of the agricultural interests of the county, 
speak favourably of such things as merit it, and point out faults 
where they exist. 

The committee find that although our country has generally shared 
largely in the bounties of a kind Providence, the abundance of this 
year has exceeded that of any previous one. Farmers have gener- 
ally found their barn room insufficient, and some grain, and an unsual 
quantity of hay has been stacked out. The quality of the crops, as 
far as they have come to maturity, is superior. 

Our county is peculiar for its adaptation to the various winter 
and spring crops usually raised in the middle and eastern states. 
With proper care and attention, our winter wheat is equal in quality 
and quantity to that of the best Genesee wheat, and for corn, oats, 
potatoes, &c. is generally superior. It was a remark of one of our 
oldest and most valued citizens, now no more,* founded on actual in- 
spection, that the corn of this county exceeded in weight by the 
bushel, that of any of the states in the Union. Owing to the pe- 
culiarity of the season, the corn crop is not so universally good 
as usual, still there are portions of our county where it is very 
stout, and equal to the most favoured years. Although the spring 
months proved rather unfavourable to the more dehcate fruits, the 
committee found apples very plenty, and generally of a fair quality ; 
it was also a matter of general remark, that the native plum never 
was more plenty or finer than this year. The committee found in- 



♦ Major Gen. Brown. 



23 

stances where the improved plum had succeeded, and 'were shown 
varieties of the egg plum, magnum bonum, yellow gage, damson, &c. 

They also found the grape of France to have succeeded in a num- 
ber of instances, notwithstanding the unusual severity of the spring 
months. 

As far as your committee have been able to ascertain, crops have 
generally been well saved, although exposed to frequent rains about 
harvest time. It was a matter of peculiar gratification to your com- 
mittee to learn generally a decrease in the use of spirituous liquors, 
and that a large proportion of the labour of this season has been per- 
formed without any. The country is and has been uncommonly 
healthy this season, and the necessaries of life have been plenty, 
and the prices reasonable. The surplus produce of last year has 
found a market at fair prices, and the present prospects are as fa- 
vourable to our portion of the country as at any other. 

Some of our farmers have tried hemp the last season ; and although 
your committee do not feel competent to judge of its success, they 
do not hesitate in saying, that its growth has been uniformly large, 
and is said to be well coated. It is a crop which has succeeded in 
other counties, and the enterprise of our farmers, and the good quality 
of our soil, will ensure its success here. Being all of us home men, 
we cannot speak comparatively of our county with that of others in 
this state. We do not however hesitate in saying, the spirit of agri- 
cultural improvement is up; that the inquiry for the best seeds; the 
best mode of preparing lands for crops ; the most effectual mode of 
destroying noxious weeds ; where the best fruit can be had ; whether 
the improved Durham short horn, the Herefordshire, or the Devon- 
hire are the best stocks, are becoming very general and cannot fail 
of advancing rapidly and essentially our farming interest. Although 
it is not the province of your committee to examine stock with a 
view to awarding premiums, their intercourse with farmers enabled 
thom to ascertain the fact that the above mentioned breeds of cattle 
were all owned in the county, and would probably be exhibited at 
the cattle show of this year. 

We occasionally found farmers complaining of hard times, and on 
inquiry found they were in the habit of preferring for family use for- 
eign goods to household manufactures because they were cheaper. 
This is paying a poor compliment to the industry and ingenuity of 
the female parts of our families, and is not in accordance with the 



24 

experience of well regulated and prosperous farmers. Relying on the 
industry and ingenuity of their good wives and daughters, they are 
furnished with apparel and bedding of their own manufacture of a 
quality far superior to the foreign article, which tends materially to 
curtail the shopbills, those sure sources of anxiety and complaint. 
Like the good wife described by Solomon, they will seek wool and 
flax, and work willingly with their own hands. They will lay their 
hands to the spindle and their right hands hold of the distaff; their 
candle goeth not out by night. 

The facilities in procuring money are daily increasing in our coun- 
try — we warn farmers to shun the flattering bait. It is an easy task 
to get into debt ; to pay is a task. 

But a little by way of reproof. There is still much carelessness 
in cultivating land that is foul. Spring crops particularly, except 
where the hoe is to be used, had better not be sowed at all than to 
be sowed where the Canada thistle, the milk and other noxious 
weeds hold the mastery. Such land ought to be seeded thoroughly, 
and a few years in meadow insures their destruction. Perhaps 
there is no surer indication of slovenly farming, than to see crops 
choked by weeds, and fences fringed with bushes and briars. We 
regret that strong cases of this kind exist in our county, and that 
they are not few. 

Though there is an evident improvement in the preserving and 
applying manures to the various purposes of agriculture, much may 
still be done to profit. The experience of the past year has done 
much to satisfy farmers that no part of their labour conduces more 
to ensure a certain and abundant crop than that bestowed in getting 
out their manure and making a judicious application of it to crops 
on grass ground. Its application to fruit trees and shrubbery is also 
highly beneficial. 

The committee beg leave to call the attention of the farmers of 
the county to the subject of the growing of wool. The prospects 
are more flattering as to market, and as to domestic uses its impor- 
tance is as great as ever. There is one thing connected with this 
subject which your committee deem worthy of mentioning. Sheep 
are anroyed by a fly which causes a disease in the head wliich is 
frequently followed by death. The committee are assured, that 
much relief, if not an entire preventive, is effected by giving the 
sheep during the hot weather a wood's pasture. 



25 

There is uot sufficient attention paid to the selection of fruit for 
orcharding. The difference in price between the natural and grafted 
fruit is small ; the difference in the fruit is incalculable. 

A brief description of the farms to which the premiums have been 
awarded will close this report. 

The farm to which the first premium has been awarded is what is 
denominated in this county a etony farm ; the limestone making its 
appearance more or less over the whole farm. The farm contains 
nearly two hundred acres of land ; is appropriated to the growing 
of grain and the raising of stock, is well watered, abounds in fruit of 
most of the varieties cultivated in this climate, is well fenced, havino- 
rising of five hundred rods of stone wall, much of which is three feet 
at the bottom with a gradual taper five feet high, is subdivided into 
small lots kept clean from bushes and weeds, with good farm build- 
ings and a suitable portion of good and substantial farming tools. 

The farms to which the second and third premiums were awarded, 
lie contiguous to each other, are similar in soil and in their general 
appearance. These farms are appropriated to the growing of grain 
and the raising of stock, have good and extensive orchards, are well 
fenced, there being rising of 700 rods of half wall on each of them, 
they contain a little rising of one hundred acres of land, are kept 
clean, have suitable farm buildings, and have been in the possession 
of the present occupants rising of twenty-five years. 

The fourth premium was awarded to a farm containing about ninety 
acres of land, the improvement being an old one, but in a bad state 
when it came into the immediate charge of the present owner three 
years since. The change in that time has been great, a brick house 
of suitable size, well finished, with the necessary out-houses and yards 
have been constructed. The orcharding on the place has been 
much improved, and a fine new one planted. Much new fence has 
been erected, and the old thoroughly repaired. A due regard to 
cleanliness from bushes and weeds has been paid. 

Premium No. 5, was awarded to a farm exceeded by none in quality 
of soil, and evincing many marks of the industry and care of its own- 
er. This farm contains about one hundred acres of land ; fences 
principally rail, but substantial and in good order and quite clean. 

In speaking of the farm to which the sixth premium is awarded, 
we must be indulged in a few general remarks ; it being located in 
a section of the county that has not often come under the inspection 
of the Viewing Committee. This farm is in the town of Lyme, 

4 



26 

which is, as far as your committee had an opportunity of judging, 
an excellent tract of land ; is famed for raising good wheat and corn, 
and is not behind the rest of the county for other crops. The farms 
are generally new, but carry the marks of the good farmer, and the 
crops evince good land as well as good tillage. The farm to which 
we have awarded the premium, is far ahead of its neighbours, and 
is at present a good mark for them to aim at. 

In conclusion, the exertions to facilitate the means of getting to 
market, begun last year, are persevered in ; and the markets of the 
North, South, East and West, will soon be accessible by water, to 
most parts of this county. 



[From the Watertoicn Register.] 

JEFFERSON COUNTY FAIR. 

On Tuesday last, was held at this village, the annual Fair of the 
Jefferson county Agricultural Society ; and it was a proud and aus- 
picious day for our county. Although the weather was as unfavour- 
able as it well could be, yet it was computed that more than three 
thousand persons visited our village from the different parts of the 
county, for the purpose of attending this interesting anniversary. 
Tlie exhibitions of domestic manufactures and of neat stock, sur- 
passed any thing ever before offered for premiums. We must notice 
in particular some beautiful specimens of carpeting, which equalled 
any of Venetian ; a straw bonnet, equalling the finest Leghorn ; 
several pieces of diaper and table-linen ; flannel, &c. The speci- 
mens from a variety of dairies were superior ; and lastly the maple 
sugar presented by Messrs. Clarke and White, which was as beauti- 
ful and pure as the best Havana. The exhibition of horses was one 
calculated to make every citizen of our county, who delights in noble 
steeds, proud of his location. The numbers exceeded the most san- 
guine expectations, and their blood and appearance would vie with 
those of the oldest and best counties of the state. Blucher colts 
were numerous and worthy of their sire. The one to whom the 
Society's first premium on three year old colts was awarded, was 
sold the same day at five hundred dollars. 

The horned cattle showed some of the best blood in the United 
States, and furnished strong evidence of due care and attention from 
their respective owners. Our pens contained on that day a full 
blooded bull, heifer and calf of the improved Durham short horn 



27 

breed, the property of Isaac W. Bostwick, Esq. of Lowville, to 
whose public spirit in the promotion of agriculture much praise is 
due. There was also a full blooded bull of the same breed, and a 
number of half blood. The Devonshire breed was also numerously 
and well represented, and our native stock showed their best. 

The ploughing match presented a lively scene of twelve teams, 
horses and oxen intermixed, contending manfully for the Society's 
premium. Here was tested the speed of the teams, the skill of the 
teamsters, and the goodness of the plough, that all important tool 
in practical agriculture. 

After the ploughing match and exhibitions were through with, a 
procession formed and marched to the Methodist chapel, where an 
appropiate and highly interesting address was delivered by V. Le 
Ray, Esq. the reports of the committee read, and premiums awarded. 
The address displayed much research after such things as might be 
useful in practice, and be applied with the least trouble and expense. 
It was an additional evidence of the intense interest of its author in 
the prosperity of our county. 

From the chapel, the society and such other citizens and specta- 
tors as were disposed, proceeded to Mr. Parson's Hotel, and partook 
of a sumptuous dinner, in good spirits, and cheering anticipations of 
the future usefulness of the society. 

Considering the benefit which our county has derived from this 
society, and the great utility which such institutions might be to any 
county, we are surprised that this should stand alone in so important 
a measure as that of sustaining an Agricultural Society. The effect 
which it has had upon this county is far surpassing the calculations 
which any person not acquainted with the whole circumstances could 
imagine. The horses, in particular, from Jefferson county are con- 
sidered the best, and usually bear the highest price in market, of any 
in this state. Our dairies are now superior to those of any county 
in the state, of the age of this ; and our neat stock, of which a large 
amount is annually exported, will command a ready sale in any 
market. But in domestic manufactures lies our beauty. We are 
not ashamed to say to any place in the union, compete with us in 
these, if you dare. 

The festivities of the day were closed as usual with a splendid ball, 
at the hotel, in the evening, which passed off with a great deal of 
good feeling and glee. In the hall were suspended two beautiful 
transparencies ; one an elegant likeness of our late governor, and 



28 

patron of such institutions, De Witt Clinton, and the other of M. J. 
Lc Rayde Chaumont, the father and president of this society. 

Since the foregoing was in type, we learn that the likenesses for 
the transparencies had been presented to the Society, by the accom- 
plished artist, Mr. Patrick, who had taken much pains in the exe- 
cution of them, expressly for that purpose. A vote of thanks for 
this highly acceptable present, was tendered him by the Society. 



mSZ °'' CONGRESS 

Hii 

002 743 882 9 



s 



